Ali Baba's Cave

Ali Baba's Cave

531 Haight Street

(between Filmore and Steiner Street)

San Francisco, CA 94117

Grub-O-Meter: 5 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $ out of $$$$

Man Ali Baba's is the best falafal in the city by far. I have been to many joints around but always come back to this place because of the taste, the value, and the quantity. Introduced by a roomate a couple of years ago I have been a fan of Ali Babas since I could remember. The lamb and turkey shawarmas are also quite delicious and another deal of the day is bringing your own plastic container to be filled with hummus for only 2 bucks or so. To give you an idea of the scale take a look at my co-workers Pauline's head compared to the falafal above. Da Bomb!

All Star Tamales

All Star Tamales

The City Farmers Market

United Nations Plaza

San Francisco, CA 94102

Grub-O-Meter: 3 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $ out of $$$$

All Star Tamales comes to town every Wednesday for the farmers market right near the civic center downtown. All Star Tamales has several location around including Alemany, Walnut Creek, and Oakland. There is always a long line of people waiting to eat here so I decided to give it a go. I tried the green chicken tamales and they were to me a little on the bland side but with the hot sauce that comes with it makes it alot better. They use simple ingredient including potatoes, chicken, corn, and chiles. As far as Tamales go not too bad and would give this place another shot.

Cha Cha Cha

Cha Cha Cha
1801 Haight St
(between Shrader St & Stanyan St)
San Francisco, CA 94117

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Cha Cha Cha is a restaurant in upper haight right near the park. Along the way you will see a lot of characters which gives the neighborhood its flavor along with lots of  unique shops and history. Usually packed like crazy during dinner we actually got lucky for a table for 3 and ordered  5 dishes along with a pitcher of Sangria. All the dishes here are so tasty and grubbin, and being that it is tapas its nice to sample everything. We ordered the fried calamari, black mussels, chicken pillard, cajun shrimp, and the special ahi tuna tacos.  Overall no complaints about the food and the atmosphere has a lot of energy and excitement, and is a great restaurant to take friends for a fun and loud dinner.

Skates on the Bay

Skates on the Bay
100 Seawall Dr
(between Fishing Pier & University Ave)
Berkeley, CA 94710

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$$ out of $$$$

Skates on the Bay in Berkeley is by all means not for penny-pinchers but it is a pretty nice restaurant for having a Sunday brunch with the family or taking a date. The breakfast is actually quite good, they have everything from omelttes to steak to clam chowder. I tried the avocado and shrimp quesadilla which was really good, the blt was great because of the honey-dipped bacon, and the omelettes are not bad as well. The view is also awesome because its opposite SF so you can see the whole SF skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge. Also if your there request the free pastries, fresh blueberry muffins and cinnamon sticks. Overall a very nice restaurant for a sunny afternoon.

Five Happiness

Five Happiness
4142 Geary Blvd
(between 5th Ave & 6th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94118

Grub-O-Meter: 3 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Recommended from a friend, decided to try this restaurant in the richmond district of SF. It's funny because I have lived on 5th avenue for 2 years back in the days, but I have never thought to give this place a try because the outside of the restaurant looks ghetto. But reading about this place the shanghainese breakfast supposed to be pretty good. So upon entering it wasn't as bad inside but a little dark. We ordered the green onion pancakes, soy milk, sticky rice, shanghainese noodles, dumplings, and pan-fried meat buns. Everything was average except the green onion pancakes and the sticky rice. Those were actually above average but everything was super fried to the max and a little oily. Overall not too bad and if you have a shanghainese breakfast craving then this would do the job.

Tong Kee

Tong Kee
2191 Irving Street
(on the corner of 23rd Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $ out of $$$$

Tong Kee is one of those restaurants that I have to visit every other week at least to get one of my favorite dishes, scrambled eggs shrimp over rice. I have tried this dish everywhere but I always come back to this joint because they do it the best. The eggs are runny not scrambled all the way, and the hot sauce they make is to die for. The scrambled eggs beef over rice is just as good but I always end up eating the shrimp. All the other dishes in the restaurant are so-so, barbeque is ok, but the main attraction for me is this dish for sure!

Daimo Chinese Restaurant

Daimo Chinese Restaurant
3288 Pierce St
Richmond, CA 94804

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Whenever I visit my parents in the east bay, Daimo is one of our favorite restaurants to go to. Located in the Pacific East center in Richmond Daimo is a pretty good restaurants for family or if your flying solo or to get to-go orders. Their bbq chausui is the best I've ever had. I have eaten a lot of bbq pork but daaanngg this is the bomb digitiy! They always serve it up fresh and straight off the pig so its extra succulent. I would say their strong suit is  the bbq, noodles, and some other dishes such as ostrich are also great. 

Yum Yum Fish

Yum Yum Fish
Neighborhood: Outer Sunset
2181 Irving Street
(between 22nd Ave & 23rd Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Mmmm... this is one right around the corner from my hood, which delivers fresh sushi whenever it strikes the mood. Yum Yum Fish is a fish market right on the busy Irving Street which makes fresh sushi daily for its customers. There are maybe 2-3 tables but generally everyone gets their sushi to go. One thing for sure is it is fresh and they get fresh fish daily which makes it fresh which equals good.  My favorites here are the tuna and salmon kamikaze rolls, spicy scallop roll, and the sake roll (smoked salmon). Overall a great find for quality and fresh sushi, a staple if your in the sunset area.

Suzu Noodle House

Suzu Noodle House
1825 Post St
(between Fillmore St & Webster St)
San Francisco, CA 94115

Grub-O-Meter: 2 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Suzu Noodle House is located in JapanTown right underneath the Kinokuniya Bookstore. I was curious about this place because I passed by and saw bunches of people waiting to get inside, I checked it out and decided to give it a go. Suzu is known for the their noodles especially their ramen. So I tried it out, I ordered the Tokyo Ramen and my fiancee had the miso ramen. The presentation looks great, the noodles are not too bad since they are known for hand-making their noodles. But overall was really really salty and definitely msg alert. I think I would not go back here, there are other ramen joints in the city far better and less crowded.

Enjoy Vegetarian

Enjoy Vegetarian
754 Kirkham St
(between 11th Ave & 12th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Right up the street from where I live, Enjoy Vegetarian lies right in the middle of a neighborhood with no surrounding businesses around. I'm not particularly a vegetarian but once in a while like to eat some veggies to clean out the system. Basically this is chinese food without the meat. Tastes great, no msg, a large variety of dishes and choices. A lot of hardcore vegetarians come here including some practicing monks and buddhists from around the area.

Tried the fake chicken which actually was really good and did taste like meat which was surprising. Also the tofu balls, noodles, and straight veggie dishes were quite good. Would recommend this if your in the mood for asian but just a little bit more healthier flavor.